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Sunday, September 16, 2018 am

 

CALMING THE STORM
Matthew 8:23-27

     Early in the ministry of Jesus, we read an account of Jesus crossing the Sea of Galilee with His disciples.   Jesus had been teaching, and Mark records that it was evening time (Mark 4:35).  He gets in the boat with His disciples and they proceed to cross.  A great tempest (a strong wind storm) arose and the boat was covered with waves.  Luke tells us they were in jeopardy (Luke 8:23).   But Jesus was below sleeping in the stern of the boat.   The disciples go below and plead with the Lord, “Save us! We are perishing!”   Jesus arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  Mark and Luke record after that Jesus rebuked them saying, “Why are you fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40).    They were afraid and marveled as they asked, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

As with everything recorded of the life of Jesus, there are lessons we can learn from this event in His life.  Today, I want to talk about a few of these. 

 I.                     Storms will come.

a.       Even the disciples of Jesus, in His presence were not immune from the storm.

b.       Storms are a part of life.  Physically, we see them and actually we need them.  They accomplish many good things – replenishing water, etc.   Though the immediate effect may not seem that way (disasters, etc.)

c.        Jesus throughout His time with the apostles and His disciples emphasized to them that spiritually they would face various types of storms (trials).  John 16:33.
Similarly, the apostles warned of them – Acts 14:22, 2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 4:12 etc.

d.       As human beings, we too face what we sometimes call, “the storms of life.”  There are many, of which we briefly mention a few here.

                                                   i.      The storm of loyalty – Who will we be loyal to?  God or family or friends or boss?  Matthew 10:34-39 – Jesus noted that at times we would have to choose. 
We cannot serve 2 masters – Matthew 6:24.

                                                 ii.      The storm of worldliness – will we let the world and its ways influence us and drag us away from Him?  1 john 2:15-17 – do not love the world; 2 Timothy 2:22 – flee youthful lusts

                                                iii.      The storms of busyness – time does many things – it wears on us AND it consumes us – when we get so busy, that we fail to accomplish the MORE important things in life.
Matthew 13:22 speaks of the thorny ground including the cares of this world. 
We must always seek to redeem the time – Ephesians 5:15-16.

                                                iv.      The storms of religious compromise and indifference – 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 – Paul feared that as the serpent deceived Eve, they would allow someone preaching “another Jesus” to deceive them.  They would put up with it. 
Ephesians 5:11 calls for us to have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness.
Both Pergamos and Thyatira in Revelation 2 tolerated error to a fault. 

 II.                   Jesus can calm the storm

a.       Physically, by performing a miracle, Jesus declared Himself to be whom He claimed to be, the Son of God.   He is Lord – Romans 1:4 notes that He was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness… 
Matthew 14:32-33 – another occasion of winds and waves, where Peter walked on water, when they got into the boat, they came and worshipped Him says, “Truly, You are the Son of God.”
Briefly discuss the purpose of miracles – Matthew 9:6-8 where Jesus did a miracle to establish His credentials. 
John 20:30-31 summarizes John’s apologetic (presented proofs) letter noting that Jesus did many signs that are written so that we may believe in Him. 

b.       Jesus can also help us in the time of storm.
He demonstrated that He cares in many ways.  The greatest way was by leaving heaven and dying for us on that cross – Philippians 2:5-8, Romans 5:6-9
If Jesus can physically stop a storm, He can help us with our spiritual storms. 
Matthew 28:20 – He is always with us.  Matthew 11:28-30 – He calls us to come to Him for rest (shelter, refuge).
Hebrews 2:18 – He is able to aid those who are tempted
Hebrews 7:25, as our unchanging High Priest, He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. 

c.        This was something the disciples on that boat realized as they turned to Jesus in time of trouble.  NOTE: These were fishermen who would have known how to manage a boat in a storm. 

d.       It was also something they realized as they responded to the miracle, “Who is this…”

e.       Another observation:  Truly He is there for us, but we must never use Him only in emergencies (like the trials of storms).  We need to trust and follow Him always. 

 III.                 We must replace our fear with faith

a.       Jesus rebuked them for weakness of faith.  Jesus mentioned two different things.  Matthew mentions they were fearful AND of little faith. 

b.       How often do we let our fears affect our trust in Him?   How often do we let our fears keep us from doing what we ought to be doing?  Heed the warning of James 2:17 – faith without works is dead!
The word for fearful is a word that means cowardly.  It is the word found in Revelation 21:8 describing those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. 
In this account we learn that fear involved a lack of faith. 
So often we are fearful, we because our faith is simply not great enough.  We have not matured in the faith as we ought. 
We may be guilty of being fearful.  When we don’t stand up for what is right, it can certainly involve timidity and fearfulness on our part.  Fearful of rejection & ridicule, of ignorance or being un prepared, of the price of doing what needs to be done, etc.
God wants us to completely trust Him – Romans 8:31-39, 1 John 5:4 – our victory in overcoming the world is our faith. 1 John 4:4 – He who is in you is greater…,  Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

c.        How often do we doubt instead of trust? 
Doubts are not specifically mentioned here, but in their fearfulness,  there could have been doubts.  Like fear, doubts affect our faith. 
On the other occasion of the stormy winds, Peter began to sink and Jesus asked, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)
A hard reality is to ask, would we have acted any differently if were on that boat?
We need to trust Him with no doubting.  This is manifested in our prayers (1 Timothy 2:8, James 1:6) which are a source of help as we deal with our storms. 

 

Conclusion:  Earlier, as Jesus was concluding the “sermon on the mount.” He made reference to preparing for the storm.  Matthew 7:24-27 we read of the wise and foolish builders.   The wise builder was prepared because his house was built on a solid foundation, THE SAYINGS of Jesus (i.e. His word).  We can prepare ourselves to weather whatever storm comes our way.  Jesus is there and has demonstrated that He can calm the storm.  When we are facing the storms of this life, do we look to Him in trusting faith?  What are we doing to prepare for the storms?  The winds and the waves obeyed Him.  Will we? How can we help you?